Lawley Group, china manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of china and glass, of London and Stoke-on-Trent
1908 The first Lawley retail business was opened in Birmingham.
1939 By this time, retail branches had been established in many of the larger towns.
1940 Lawleys started acquiring potteries.
1948 The Lawley Group was incorporated to amalgamate Lawleys Ltd, a public company, with T. H. Lawley Investment Co and Lawley Hotel Supplies Ltd, both private companies. Lawleys Ltd owned 7 potteries and 3 other subsidiaries. T. H. Lawley Investment Co owned 3 potteries and 3 other subsidiaries[1]. The potteries were:
- Adderleys Ltd
- Barlows (Longton) Ltd
- Thomas Dean and Sons Ltd
- Garfield Pottery Ltd
- Globe Pottery Co Ltd
- Ridgways (Bedford Works) Ltd
- Hughes (Fenton) Ltd
- Melba China Co Ltd
- North Staffordshire Pottery Co Ltd
- Portland Pottery Ltd
1951 Whitehall Securities Corporation purchased the Lawley family shares and made offer for the remainder; the acquirer already owned Booths and Colcloughs[2].
1951 Lawleys had acquired controlling interest in Sterling Pottery Co; rebuilding of Gainsborough China Works and North Staffordshire Pottery had been undertaken for modernization; the export business was conducted under the Ridgways and Adderleys names[3].
1953 Capital raising in order to acquire the remainder of the shares of Booths and Colcloughs Ltd; S Pearson Industries, which owned 76% of the ordinary shares, would take up their entitlement[4].
1959 The Swinnertons group was taken over by the Lawley Group.
1963 Bid for Derby Royal Crown Porcelain Co[5], which was quickly accepted.
1964 the Lawley Group took over Thomas C. Wild and Sons Ltd[6]; Lawley rights issue[7]; change of name to Allied English Potteries (AEP)[8]. Subsidiaries included Shore and Coggins, Chapmans (Longton), Paragon China, Alcock, Lindley and Bloore[9].